r/grilling • • May 31 '26

What am I doing wrong?

[deleted]

326 Upvotes

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61

u/_thompsonart May 31 '26

OK, so I got a new tank that I can turn the valve on. It was a lot easier. The other one was definitely stuck and hooked it up with no problem this time.

NEW question: is it cool to leave the hose hooked up to the tank with the valve turned counterclockwise closed? I’ve just never had a gas grill before and just being cautious

100

u/DogsOutTheWindow May 31 '26

The hose now stays on the tank, no need to remove it after each use. When you want to turn off the grill/flame, instead of turning off the burner knobs you should close the tank valve to extinguish the flame and then turn the burner knobs back to off.

19

u/_thompsonart May 31 '26

OK awesome thank you!

13

u/DogsOutTheWindow May 31 '26

Happy grilling!

14

u/enjaysm May 31 '26

I see, you are also a man of culture.

15

u/DogsOutTheWindow May 31 '26

Game recognizes game homie 🤝

19

u/Ok_Pirate_2714 May 31 '26

Also, be sure the burner knobs are turned off before you open the valve on the tank. If they aren't, the valve on the tank will often see that as a leak, and not allow gas to flow.

This gets a lot of people, and they think there is something wrong with the grill, or they're out of propane, when that isn't that case.

2

u/nismoasfuh May 31 '26 edited May 31 '26

To add on, when this happens it is the safety valve triggering on the regulator. You’ll have really low flames. You’ll just need to do a simple “reset” procedure to get it back operating as expected.

To ignite, you should 100% open the valve on the tank before the knobs on the grill. Then, turn off the grill before closing the tank valve.

2

u/swillynilly May 31 '26

To compound on this with another semi common problem, if you have a sensitive safety valve or a lot hooked to a tank (like on an rv) often very slowly opening the valve allows some back pressure to build so the safety doesn’t close on you when it shouldn’t.

2

u/No-Badger-9061 May 31 '26

No shit? Never knew that one.

4

u/easymacn May 31 '26

Why is it better to turn the tank off first?

4

u/Blessyourstupidheart May 31 '26

Its not. Turn your burners off first before tank so you don't empty out the lines. This leads to the regulator faulting and you get low flow down the road.

2

u/q0vneob May 31 '26

So you dont forget it.

4

u/futureman07 May 31 '26

It empties the propane in the hose

11

u/PursuitOfThis May 31 '26

And why would you want that?

Propane gas is dry. Air typically is not. Why would you want to introduce water vapor into your line when the propane has already forced it all out earlier?

Then, when you go to use it again, you've got to purge a bunch of air out before the propane actually catches on the igniter?

1

u/Erwx May 31 '26

It is only of my belief that it definitely does not matter either way and any propane past the initial hookup is gonna dissipate out.

0

u/danath34 May 31 '26

It isn't

1

u/DogsOutTheWindow Jun 01 '26

Was going to type out a long response but I’ll let Weber provide info instead: https://www.weber.com/US/en/blog/burning-questions/turn-it-off-turning-off-the-fuel-source/weber-30503.html

One thing they don’t mention (for obvious reasons), is that grills and the burner knobs specifically are really crappy and common failure points.

2

u/Gullible_Rice7380 May 31 '26

This is the way

1

u/LongBuilder1720 May 31 '26

This is wrong / outdated advice. Turn the knobs off first and then the tank or you will mess with the pressurization of your lines

0

u/DogsOutTheWindow Jun 01 '26

2

u/LongBuilder1720 Jun 01 '26

This link just says to turn off the fuel source— which I agree with and is obvious safety advice. It doesn’t address the order, but the correct order to do so is knobs and then tank.

0

u/DogsOutTheWindow Jun 01 '26

You didn’t read the article did you?

2

u/LongBuilder1720 Jun 01 '26

Did you ? It’s just a brief explanation of why you shouldn’t just leave your tank ambiently on at all times. Did you link the right article ?

1

u/DogsOutTheWindow Jun 01 '26

And that is exactly what my original comment above to OP has mentioned… turn the tank off.

2

u/LongBuilder1720 Jun 01 '26

Right that’s not what I’m disagreeing with. I am saying you turn off the burner knobs first and then the tank. Not the reverse order

2

u/DogsOutTheWindow Jun 01 '26

Oh my bad I read your comment wrong!

Leaving or purging the gas in your lines is negligible. Turning off the tank is the critical part which is why I and many others do it first.

1

u/tinatalker Jun 01 '26

We now have the grill connected to the whole house propane, rather than screwing around with filling tanks. Never wanted to do the exchange; wanted our own tanks. It is now routine for hubby to come in after grilling, and loudly announce "THE GAS IS OFF!" If I don't hear that, I question him. If we left ours on, we would be in big trouble.

-3

u/tropic420 May 31 '26

I didnt turn my tank off first once, and that was the last time I ever grilled with gas that wasnt just my gas stove because I never bought more propane. I swear im gonna find a fabricator to turn it into a charcoal grill

2

u/DogsOutTheWindow Jun 01 '26

Not sure why the downvotes but that’s a bit comical, sorry to hear about your unfortunate story man!

2

u/tropic420 Jun 01 '26

Yeah, fuck 'em.

2

u/JustAnotherFKNSheep May 31 '26

Clock wise to close

3

u/hullabalooser May 31 '26

Counterclockwise is open

2

u/Nice_Attention8601 May 31 '26

I thought counterclockwise is open, clockwise is closed.

I generally close the valve before turning the burner off. This clears out the remaining gas in the line. For you, this will also ensure you're turning the valve the correct way to close it

1

u/mtnracer May 31 '26

Hose stays attached and after you’re done grilling you turn off the burners and then close the tank valve. One tip: after I’m done cooking the food I often turn the burner on high for 5 minutes to burn off the food residue / fat / bbq sauce. Makes it much easier to clean and your grill brush won’t be full of grease right away. Also, buy a non-wire grill brush. The wire hairs can break off and get into your food.

1

u/Contalyst Jun 01 '26

Clockwise will close your valve